Elisabet Velasquez reckons with a lifetime of disharmony with her religious, mentally ill mother.
Search results
I Had a Friend. He Dreamed of Israel.
After 35 years, a visit to a grave, and to a different country.
Funk Lessons in Sonic Solitude
“Joi’s recorded performances embodied all the funkiness my little soul had been waiting for.”
Hot for Teacher
When a student in her writing workshop submits a piece suggesting his character could ‘take’ a teacher just like her ‘atop her desk,’ Courtney Zoffness is flooded with memories of men touching her against her will.
‘To Be Well’: An Unmothered Woman’s Search for Real Love
After years of strife with her mother, Vanessa Mártir finds unconditional love in a new, tender relationship.
Lumbersexuality, a Sport and a Pastime
Why do people — mostly men — want to throw axes and dress like lumberjacks?
Swipe Right: A Reading List about Online Dating
Jacqueline Alnes shares her own dating app experiences and nine stories about the pitfalls of finding a partner online.
How I Got My Shrink Back
An entanglement with her shrink-stalking protege teaches Susan Shapiro something about forgiveness.
Politics and Prose
A personal essay in which Marie Myung-Ok Lee finds herself conflicted about attending a controversial author’s reading and wonders: what does “speaking up” actually mean?
Following the North Star
Shaheen Pasha explores how the trauma of a loved one’s incarceration unravels her carefully planned-out existence, and sets her on a new, unexpected path to find meaning in the meaningless.
